A Podcast with Charlie Swenson - To Hell and Back

World DBT Summit Coming – Episode 127

Charlie interviews Michaela Swales and Alec Miller, the co-hosts of the DBT World Summit that takes place October 28-30. Learn all that you need to know about this amazin

Synchronized Swimming – Episode 126

In this podcast Charlie recalls a piece of biological research he did 57 years ago, at college. He pursued the question: how is it that the 2 billion cells of the human h

Dialectics, Democracy, Tyranny, Trump, and the American Way – Episode 125

In the wake of the recent killing by federal agents of two adults in Minneapolis, this podcast represents an attempt to deepen my perspective on these events, on Donald T

Does DBT Work as a Model for Understanding and Addressing a Fascist Takeover? – Episode 124

DBT’s emphasis on behavioral specificity, validation, and dialectical thinking, while effective for therapy, must be sufficiently grounded in deep moral convictions and m

Bystanders Get Off the Sidelines Please – Episode 123

In this podcast Charlie reviews the six categories of people in the United States insofar as they are actors in the drama between democracy and authoritarianism, highligh

Nuggets of Gold in Piles of Sand – Episode 122

In this podcast, Charlie reflects on a recent consultation as a window into the way in which memory is tethered to certain moments, as an example of Linehan’s metaphor fo

Amputation of Morality: What to Do About It? – Episode 121

The perspective within this podcast is that our current political process is seriously dysfunctional, having been taken over by decision-makers who seem disconnected from

Getting Out of Hell and Into Reality – Episode 120

This podcast focuses on the fact that we spend most of our lives living in the stories we tell ourselves about reality, but not in reality itself. Hear how DBT helps us t

What the fuck? Dialectics and Improvisation in Therapy and Everyday Life – Episode 119

In this podcast, I explore what is meant by dialectics in general, dialectics in the practice of DBT, and especially what it takes to “do dialectics-in-action.” It’s way

Wise Mind, Polarization, Dialectics, and Stopping Fascism – Episode 118

In this podcast, the third in a series, I clarify the place of dialectics in DBT as an antidote to polarization. Using some case examples, I detail how one might use dial

Learning to Say No Effectively to Fascism – Episode 117

To say NO to the forces and practices of fascism in the U.S., effectively enough to stop it, can be frightening. We will borrow from the DBT skills training model, explai

When Hell is an Attack on Democracy – Episode 116

In this podcast, Charlie draws from DBT in search of ways to understand the current assault on democracy in the United States, and to become more effective at taking care

Adapting DBT Skills When Working with Autistic Individuals – Episode 115

In this episode, the fourth in a series on autism and DBT, Charlie is again joined by Amara Brooke and Rachel Kraus, two DBT therapists who are autistic and who have subs

Challenging, Changing Course, Reframing. Irreverence in Therapy and Life – Episode 114

In this episode, Charlie explains, and gives lots of examples of, being irreverent in therapy. What is the essence? What is the point? Why is it important to do? Why is i

Top Ten Tips for Adapting DBT to Autistic Clients – Episode 113

Charlie moderates a discussion between Amara Brook and Rachel Kraus, both of whom are DBT-informed therapists with subspecialties treating autistic and ADHD individuals,

Do we use DBT to target autism? No – Episode 112

Charlie talks further with Amara Brook about autism, neurodiversity, and DBT: how can DBT be adapted, not to target autism itself, but to help autistic folks succeed at t

Autism, Neurodiversity and DBT – Episode 111

It seems that the world is paying more and more attention to autism in particular and neurodiversity in general. Beginning with this episode, Charlie talks with Amara B

Wise Mind – Episode 110

Charlie provides an in-depth discussion of WISE MIND as used in DBT. What is it, why is it so valuable, what are perspectives on it, what are its features, how do you acc

“As Bad A Year As It Was, It Was As Good As It Could Have Been” – Episode 109

In a manner that is absolutely true to these words from her DBT and life mentor, Seth Axelrod, Andrea Gold has completed her one year of prescribed treatment for breast c

Guaranteed Success, By Design – Episode 108

> In part 2 of the conversation with world class trainer Cem Eren, join Charlie and Nicole and enter the Lion’s Den, a practice environment thoughtfully constructed to su